


sea may rise, sky may fall

by Gosh_Mr_Big_Brain



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Angst, First Kiss, Getting Together, I know this is tagged as major character death, M/M, Post-Battle of Camlann, Realization of Feelings, Resurrection, and I might write something else to change that, but technically its only supposed, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 10:51:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19061161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gosh_Mr_Big_Brain/pseuds/Gosh_Mr_Big_Brain
Summary: A recently revived Arthur and Merlin suddenly find themselves having to repeat many of the same tasks that they’d once performed in Camelot, now in the modern world. However, these familiar tasks now come with much more dangerous twists and deadlier consequences.Anhora's task, in particular, is no longer the safe, moral test it once was. The goblet really does have poison in it and either Merlin or Arthur won't make it out of this challenge alive.





	sea may rise, sky may fall

**Author's Note:**

> I?? wrote this because I re-watched Asylum of The Dalek's today and realised that Amy and Rory are basically Arthur and Merlin. But this?? Is an actual plot that I may have to continue later. But probably not, lest you get too attached.

“Well, at least we know how to fix this.”

 

Arthur, who had been intensely examining the familiar beach that they had been transported to, immediately turned to Merlin expectantly, his curiosity piqued. “Really? How?” 

 

Merlin stared back at Arthur, his gaze a bit sad. “I’ll drink the poison, of course.”

 

“No, absolutely not,” Arthur immediately replied, looking at Merlin as if he had grown a second head. “I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t know that you were  _ this _ stupid! If the last few trials were anything to go by, I somehow doubt that there’ll be another sleeping draught in this goblet. Whoever drinks it will surely die.”

 

Merlin just shook his head, that same sorrowful expression darkening his features. “I know that, Arthur.”

 

“Well, you can’t drink it. I forbid you.” Arthur yanked the goblet towards him, clasping it tightly in his hands. Merlin's dispassionate expression was scaring him. 

 

“You know it has to be me.”

 

“No it doesn’t. Why would you say that?”

 

“Arthur-” And Merlin sighs at this, a little exasperated, as if Arthur should already know, “- It’s a basic fact of our relationship that I care about you more than you care about me.”

 

Arthur stared at Merlin, trying to comprehend any of the words that had just come out of his mouth. They weren’t making sense, none of this was making sense. 

 

Merlin continued, “And, even if that weren’t true, you’re the more important one. I’m expendable- you’re not.”

 

“That’s not true,” Arthur whispered, shaking his head, the movement almost imperceptible. “That’s not true, Merlin. How could you say that?”

 

He smiled a little bitterly, the expression a poor replica of a usually lovely thing. “Fifteen hundred years, I wandered the Earth waiting for you, Arthur. Don’t say it isn’t true, you know it’s true.”

 

Arthur shoved himself upwards from his chair, shaking his head violently. He took a few steps away from the table, away from Merlin, before whipping back around and stabbing a shaking finger in Merlin’s direction. Fixing him with a glare that he hoped was more furious than devastated, he said, “Don’t you dare say that to me. Don’t you dare.” 

 

Arthur stalked a bit closer to Merlin who was watching him, a look of genuine surprise on his face. “Do you think I wanted to leave you? Do you think I liked being… being stuck in Avalon while you had to face the world alone? I didn’t  _ choose _ that  _ Mer _ lin,” he finished viciously, the words tearing from his throat ugly and furious. 

 

Merlin was still looking at him, although the surprise had faded to something else. Sadness again, maybe. Although there was something different about it, this time. Arthur couldn’t quite place it. 

 

Unable to take Merlin’s endless stare, he turned away, facing the ocean instead whose waves had turned violent, smashing angrily against the beach. Suddenly feeling inexplicably tired, Arthur’s next words were no louder than a whisper, though he was sure that Merlin could still hear them. “I would _never_ choose that.” 

 

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The only audible sound was that of the waves attacking the shore. 

 

Then Merlin murmured:

 

“Arthur…” 

 

There was something about the way Merlin said his name, something he still couldn’t quite place, that made Arthur turn towards Merlin again. He looked weary as well, as if those fifteen hundred years were finally catching up with him. 

 

“Do you really believe that I don’t care for you?” Arthur asked in a small voice. This… whatever it was, felt so fragile that if he spoke any louder, it would shatter into a million pieces and they would never be able to repair it. 

 

“No.” But the bitter smile that made its way back onto Merlin’s face told a different story. “But I do know that I’ve always cared more about you than you’ve cared about me.”

 

And suddenly Arthur could place the look that still lingered in the blue of Merlin’s eyes. It was an expression that Guinevere wore quite often, back in Camelot, always around the anniversary of Lancelot’s death (the first one at least), but even before that when she and Arthur were only courting and Lancelot was still one of Arthur’s best knights. It was also in the bearing of his father whenever Arthur’s birthday came around, marking another year without Ygraine beside him. It was a feeling that Arthur himself had become quite familiar with ever since he came back from Avalon, noticed in the shadows on his face whenever he looked in the mirror. Realised that he had, maybe, felt before he had died but had never wanted to acknowledge it. It was longing, longing for something, some _ one _ , that you knew you could never have. 

 

Arthur met Merlin’s gaze, feeling the already rapid pounding of his heart beat even faster. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” he breathed. 

 

If it were any other time, Arthur might have been able to ignore this slightly belated epiphany, chalked it up to adrenaline or some other stupid excuse, like he always did back in Camelot. But if he did, then he and Merlin would have just gone on with their lives, no different than before. And Arthur, he realised, didn't want that anymore. So today, with one of their lives on the line and the utter sadness still so deeply embedded in Merlin’s eyes, Arthur decided to actually  _ do _ something about it. 

 

Still not looking away from Merlin, his manservant, his best friend, his- well, we’ll see I suppose, Arthur crossed the short distance between them, ignoring everything but Merlin. Merlin, who despite being a fifteen hundred year old sorcerer who had been everywhere and seen everything, was now wearing the most adorably confused expression that Arthur had ever seen. So much so that, even if Arthur hadn’t been about to kiss him, he’d surely have to now.

 

As Arthur took Merlin's face into his hands, that feeling of fragility fell over him again, but he wouldn't let fear stop him from doing what he wanted. Not now, not ever again. Arthur surged forward, closing the small space between him and Merlin, and then he was finally,  _finally,_ kissing him. And it felt  _right_. Not perfect, like when he kissed Sophia or Vivian way back when. Not careful like it had always felt when he kissed Gwen, even after they finally got past the awkwardness of their first days of courting, even after they were married. The kiss felt like _them_ , all their bickering and long stares and honest moments rolled into one action that they had really put off much too long. 

 

Eventually, with great reluctance, Arthur pulled away because they had much to talk about, including the still poisoned goblet stationed on the table behind them. But, even as he distanced himself a little bit, he kept Merlin's face in his hands, rubbing a gentle thumb along his cheek. 

 

“Now,” Arthur began, gazing down at Merlin and, even though the situation was dire, he couldn’t help but smiling softly at the dumbstruck expression on Merlin’s face. “I’ve drank from this goblet once before, I’m more than happy to do it again.”

 

That sentence seemed to jolt Merlin back to his senses and he shook his head at Arthur, his face no longer sad or bitter but determined. Suddenly, he was grasping Arthur’s shirt, pulling him down for another desperate kiss, although this one felt more like a goodbye than a beginning. 

 

“As I’d ever let you,” Merlin murmured onto Arthur's lips, before shoving him away, so hard that Arthur lost his balance and tumbled onto the sand. Then, he was reaching across the table and seizing the goblet in surprisingly steady hands. Before Arthur could even push himself back up, let alone knock the goblet out of his grasp, Merlin turned towards him and, with a genuine smile on his lips, he downed the poison. 


End file.
